CHRONICLE-HERALD (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 27 April 06 Salamander too popular for own good
A warty, half-foot-long salamander known scientifically as Paramesotriton laoensis, with striking markings on its back and stomach, is known to live in only two places in Laos - and now probably in glass tanks in Japan.
Announced by scientists just four years ago, P. laoensis has shown up for sale on websites of Japanese pet stores for $190 Cdn each.
"Just the last month, they've become available for the first time," said Bryan Stuart, a research assistant at the Field Museum in Chicago who first spotted the salamander in 1999 and described it in a scientific paper published in 2002. "This is very concerning because this is a very poorly known species to science."
After an article about the salamanders appeared in the Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun, a couple of the salamander dealers pulled listings for the animals off their websites. Several others continue selling them. The article said one dealer had imported about 100 P. laoensis salamanders.
Stuart heard in February that the dealer was in Laos looking for the salamanders - and was using his scientific paper to know what to look for and where to find it. But because so little is known about the salamanders, they have not been added to the lists of endangered animals that are banned from commercial trade.
Thus, Stuart's paper turned into a too helpful map for salamander collectors. However, Stuart said if they kept the information secret to thwart collectors, governments and conservationists would also be in the dark.
Salamander too popular for own good